It would be wonderful for Gateshead to get a win against the All Golds. That will give their fans something to cheer about and give the team a bit of confidence going into the regular season. There is plenty of time for the All Golds to establish themselves, and they must be expecting a good few losses this season as they adjust to the demands of the league, so I'm not too bothered about them losing a match but it would be very hard on the Gateshead crew if they lost to a newcomer. I do hope they win.

I bet Hemel give the Cru a good run for their money but again I'm hoping for a win by the Cru as that will send them into the final and get them motoring into the new season.

The other two games would be interesting to watch as I'm sure each team on their day could beat the opposition.

voted for the Hemel game as that's the one I'm going to but being honest I think the most compelling tie of the round is Hornets v Skolars. A real litmus test for the Skolars after beating their southern competitors in recent weeks. Both of them will be in the playoff mix at the end of the year so an interesting one.

Great to see the above teams playing rugby league.
Been to Hemel a few times , great little set up , also been up to Thunder ,some good youth players with a great attitude .
Refreshing not having the crowed shouting - forward pass/gerom on side every tackle , the locals seem to have a different outlook on the rugby they watch

Great to see the above teams playing rugby league.Been to Hemel a few times , great little set up , also been up to Thunder ,some good youth players with a great attitude .Refreshing not having the crowed shouting - forward pass/gerom on side every tackle , the locals seem to have a different outlook on the rugby they watch

I was thinking about the different nature of the crowds the other day. I think people in the outposts have often fallen in love with the sport itself while many fans of the traditional clubs are first and foremost blinkered followers of that one particular outfit. There isnt that same kneejerk reaction to decry everything as being rubbish and not as good as back in the good old days. The "gerrem onside ref" one does my head in.Once fine, twice no problem but on and on and on and on - I cant remember which Cumbrian club it was last season - one of the W's - at the Skolars but there was a bloke who hollered that at least 50 times. I felt like going over and stuffing his programme in his mouth

What's the format for the Northern Rail Cup going forward from these two pools please?

disques vogue

The club where Eurovision isn't a dirty word. A waltz through the leopard skin lined world of Tom Jones, Bert Kampfert and Burt Bacharach. Step out to the sound of the happy hammond and swing to the seductive sounds of the samba.

Yes, but as you can see, it's not the BBC website. Which is out of date.

I have no idea which bit of the BBC website you are talking about because all I do is clink on the Championship link on the right hand side of the RL homepage which takes me to the Championships website and on the right hand tab is Northern Rail Cup. I click on that and everything is there, up to date. It is perfectly sufficient to have that link through from the website. It's better, in fact, than having the same thing repeated by the BBC. Why bother with that when the BBC just facilitates me getting right to the facts? It's all linked to the BBC website, it can be found on the BBC website and I really don't know why you are making such a silly fuss about it.

I have no idea which bit of the BBC website you are talking about because all I do is clink on the Championship link on the right hand side of the RL homepage which takes me to the Championships website and on the right hand tab is Northern Rail Cup. I click on that and everything is there, up to date. It is perfectly sufficient to have that link through from the website. It's better, in fact, than having the same thing repeated by the BBC. Why bother with that when the BBC just facilitates me getting right to the facts? It's all linked to the BBC website, it can be found on the BBC website and I really don't know why you are making such a silly fuss about it.

Perhaps it's the concept of the 'external link' you are struggling with.

What you posted was a link to a website that has nothing to do with the BBC, but happens to appear as an external link there. No fuss, it's not silly, it's not the BBC website, which is out of date. HTH.

voted for the Hemel game as that's the one I'm going to but being honest I think the most compelling tie of the round is Hornets v Skolars. A real litmus test for the Skolars after beating their southern competitors in recent weeks. Both of them will be in the playoff mix at the end of the year so an interesting one.

Yeah I would go for Rochdale-Skolars. To me the London outfit seem to have grown some horns these last couple of seasons. A proper Championship club emerging I hope. Hornets away will be a test of that.

"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

"It involves matters much greater than drafting the new rules...the original and existing games have their own powerful appeal to their players and public and have the sentiments which history inspires"Harold 'Jersey' Flegg 1933